In current speech, the word "cell" immediately evokes a room where, in a prison, a criminal is locked up, isolated and cut off from all contact with others. And, in fact, for the Egyptian who really enjoys fresh air and relations with others, the hermit's cell must look like a veritable dungeon. The Desert Fathers …
A brother in the Cells had put some palm tree leaves to soak and, as he sat down to plait them, his mind told him, "Go find such and such an elder." Then he told himself, "I'll go in a few days." Again, his mind told him, "And if he dies, what will you do? …
The cell was regarded in the apophthegms as a specific space where one lived and followed a particular praxis that suited the monastic. The cell was set aside from other spaces because it was the place for serious spiritual work, which often included battles against thoughts and demons. A brother went to Abba Moses to …
